Grand Isle

Grand Isle News

Tropical Storm Karen may bring more than 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain, isolated tornadoes and power outages to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it is expected to go ashore over the weekend, forecasters said.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. curbed production in the Gulf of Mexico and other energy companies evacuated workers from platforms and pipelines as Tropical Storm Karen triggered a hurricane watch.

President Barack Obama said oil spilling from a damaged BP Plc well in the Gulf of Mexico is an “assault on our shores” and the government will keep it a top priority until the leak is plugged and the environmental damage is repaired.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal ’s plan to block BP Plc’s spilled oil with sand berms, approved after President Barack Obama met with officials, was declared a failure by the staff of a commission investigating the disaster.

It’s supposed to be high season in Biloxi, Mississippi, but George Griffith stands on a stretch of beach where seagulls, tacking into a bullying southeast wind, easily outnumber the dozen or so die-hard tourists testing the surf.